Conventional lighting products use various lighting technologies including incandescent, fluorescent, and high intensity discharge (HID) technologies to generate visible light. However, more and more lighting products are using Solid State Lighting (SSL) technology to meet indoor and outdoor lighting requirements for a variety of lighting applications. SSL technology uses electronic components, such as integrated circuits, liquid-crystal displays, and light emitting diodes (LEDs), to generate visible light. Lighting fixtures that use SSL technology typically consume less energy and have a longer operating life as compared to lighting fixtures that use incandescent, fluorescent, or HID lighting technologies.
A single LED cannot emit a sufficient amount of light for most outdoor or indoor lighting applications. As a result, multiple LEDs are generally required to provide the minimum amount of light or illuminance required to meet project specifications for a particular application. For example, multiple LEDs are typically mounted on a printed circuit board (“PCB”) and configured with separate optics, either refractive of reflective, such that the light emitted from each LED can be dispersed in a desired direction. Unfortunately, a significant amount of heat can be generated when using such a multiple LED configuration. If the heat cannot be quickly removed, components within the lighting fixture, including the LEDs, can overheat and, thereby, significantly reduce the lighting efficiency and service life of the lighting fixture.